The invention relates to a pressure sensor, especially for a vehicle, for generating electrical signals as a function of the position of a movable diaphragm stretched between a housing part on the measuring chamber side and a housing part on the pressure chamber side, with an electrical measuring device located in a measuring chamber.
Pressure sensors of this kind are frequently used, especially in vehicles, for measuring a relative pressure between the pressure chamber and the measuring chamber, and are known from practice. As a function of the deflection of the pressure membrane, or movable diaphragm, a variable resistance signal is generated and is displayed using a conventional rotary magnet quotient meter. These known pressure sensors do not allow the measured signal to be displayed on contemporary meters without an additional resistance-voltage converter. In addition, the lifetime of the variable resistance located in the measuring chamber, with the resistance having a wire winding tapped by a wiper element, is not satisfactory. In particular, microvibrations that develop both as a result of vehicle vibrations and of pulsations in the measured medium, can result in destruction of the resistance wire. In addition, an oxidation layer that leads to incorrect measured value readings when operation resumes, forms on the wire surface when the vehicle is not in use for a prolonged period of time.